A Sympathetic High Priest

God is not only aware of our sorrow. He not only documents our tears. He entered into our sorrow in the person of Jesus Christ.

Scripture Focus: John 11:33-35; Hebrews 4:15; Psalm 56:8

"When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled... Jesus wept."

Consider Isaiah 53:3-4 with me: "He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief... Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried."

He was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. He knew much grief. The Savior of the world is not a stranger to suffering.

Hebrews 4:15: "We do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin."

It's not just that He's been tempted in every way we are without sin. He's been wounded in every way you are without bitterness. He's been grieved in every way you are. He's faced rejection in every way you've faced rejection. He's faced sadness in every way you face sadness. He's a sympathetic high priest.

The Christ revealed to you in Scripture this morning is not unmoving, unflinching, insensitive, and unaffected (Boice). He's one that enters into the sorrow of His own.

Have you ever experienced true sorrow? Have you ever grieved? Are you grieving even now? Have you ever sobbed in the presence of unimaginable loss and pain?

So has Jesus.

The Old Testament is wonderful. We read that God does not ignore the cry of the humble. He hears our cry. Psalm 34:15 says, "The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their cry."

But look at Psalm 56:8: "You have taken account of my wanderings. You put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in Your book?"

God takes note of the tears of His people and He writes them down in His book. He holds them. He collects them and He places them in His bottle. There is not a tear that you have ever cried that is unnoticed and undocumented by God.

But the wonder of Scripture and the wonder of John 11 is that God is not only aware of our sorrow, He not only documents our tears—He entered into our sorrow in the person of Jesus Christ.

I preach on the sovereignty of God often—that He rules and reigns, that He's in total control. But I want you to write this down on your heart: Never separate the sovereignty of God from the sympathy of God. He's not capriciously pulling strings unmoved, unaffected by the sorrow of His people.

Have you ever felt as if God were distant or passive in your pain? He's not. Maybe you think God does not care about your suffering and your sorrow. That couldn't be further from the truth.

Stay dialed in